Halfway to Virginia (A McRoll in the REAL World Story by Sammy and Iln
by ilna
Summary: Catherine's aunt and uncle stop by Nonna's for a visit and the gang finally hears the infamous "lost on the beach story." Part 14 of the 6th Annual McRoll in the REAL World Holiday Marathon.


_Welcome to Part 14 of the 6th Annual McRoll in the REAL World Holiday Marathon. There will be a new story every day between now and January 3rd. (Though we retain the right to keep going until January 5th if we're having too much fun.)_

Thanks to my Uncle Joe for first losing, then finding me on the Ocean City beach 35 years ago. The title is for you. :-)

~Ilna

**Hope you enjoy!**

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_Halfway to Virginia (A McRoll in the REAL World Story by Sammy and Ilna)_

By sheer coincidence Catherine's Uncle Greg and Aunt Jean had booked a cruise with friends leaving out of the Cape Liberty Cruise Port in New Jersey. When they found out the entire family would be visiting Nonna for the holiday they arranged to arrive a day early for a visit. They had planned to meet at a local restaurant where they would have a chance to catch up but Nonna being Nonna she insisted they come to the house where they were greeted by a warm hug and a meal fit for a king.

They were thrilled with the chance to get to see Angie and DJ in person. Though Catherine had sent pictures and videos regularly since Angie's birth, and they'd had regular Skype conversations, nothing could compare with seeing the happy, energetic toddler in person. Angie was also very excited to introduce them to DJ who warmed up to them within minutes and excitedly told them all about the fun he'd been having this visit and how he'd be starting school when they returned to Hawaii. They could see right away he was a perfect fit for the family.

While Steve and Catherine went off to help organize afternoon plans for the group Greg and Jean settled in at the dining room table to catch up with Ang, Elizabeth and Joseph. About a half hour later they heard Steve's voice ring out.

"Everyone fan out," he said. "You know the drill. Standard grid search."

Without hesitation, half the group headed upstairs as the rest dispersed to check the other rooms.

"What's this?" Greg asked as he and his wife followed his mother and sister toward the kitchen.

"Angie's nap schedule has been … irregular, to say the least," Elizabeth explained.

"Largely due to her flat out refusals to nap," Ang added with a little grin.

"Oh, I remember those days," Jean said. "When they get in those moods no amount of sternness or cajoling will work."

"Exactly," Elizabeth said. "But she falls asleep eventually, and in the strangest of places. First it was Nonna's closet upstairs. Yesterday it was the pantry."

Ang chuckled. "Holding a bag of rice. We'll show you the picture."

"Found her," Jacob called from the living room. "She's under the tree."

Everyone gathered quietly to peek at the sleeping toddler.

"Ohh, look at her," Jean said. "She's using the tree skirt as a blanket."

"Cutest Christmas present ever, right, Jacob?" Jess said.

He grinned. "Totally."

"Well, at least we're getting quicker at finding her," Cody said.

"It's not even hide-and-seek, really, since she sleeps through it all," Dylan said, shaking his head in amusement.

Catherine sighed as Steve crawled under the tree and carefully picked Angie up without jostling her or any of the ornaments. She ran a hand over their daughter's sleeping head.

"This would be a lot simpler if you'd just nap in a bed, baby girl."

"I'm predicting right now that tomorrow it will be a dresser drawer," Jadon quipped.

"I'll take that bet," Danny said. "My money's on the bathtub."

* * *

"Now can we hear the story about how you lost Aunt Catherine on the beach?" Jacob asked hopefully after Angie was put in bed.

Greg laughed. "Sure. That's one of my favorites." He sat back in his chair and began. "It was, oh, how long ago now? 36 years?" He shook his head. "Goodness, time flies. Anyway, Catherine was four years old, close to five, and we were all on vacation for a week in Ocean City, Maryland. It was pretty rare to get a whole week together, with Joseph's deployments, but we worked it out that year. I remember Elizabeth and Joseph were back at the rental with Mom, and Jean and I took the kids down to the beach. Our two boys and Catherine, who were all pretty close in age. Catherine had a question about the ocean that Jean and I couldn't answer."

"What was the question?" Jacob asked.

"You know, all these years later, no one can remember. But since it was Catherine, of course it must have been something very clever," he said, winking at his niece. "Anyway, I suggested we go ask a lifeguard. The boys were too busy burying each other in the sand, so Jean stayed with them, and Catherine and I walked down the beach to the closest lifeguard stand. Catherine didn't hesitate, just walked right up to and said, 'Excuse me,' and asked her question."

"Of course she did," Steve said, smiling at her.

"After she got her answer, we started walking back toward our blanket and umbrella," Greg continued. "We walked along the shoreline, getting our feet wet in the surf, and I turned and walked up the sand to our blanket. Jean took one look at me and said …"

" 'Where's Catherine?' " Jean supplied.

"I couldn't understand it," Greg said. "She'd been right next to me. But suddenly, she wasn't. I ran back to the surf but didn't see her anywhere. Jean grabbed both boys and joined me but we couldn't find her in the crowd. We decided to separate, Jean headed back toward the lifeguard's stand in case Catherine had thought of another question, and I went the other direction."

Joan looked nervous. "Did you call Uncle Joseph and Aunt Elizabeth and Grandma Ang?"

"This was long before cell phones, sweetheart," Joseph said.

"But I tell you what I was doing," Greg continued. "I was trying to figure out which one of my boys I was going to give to Joseph and Elizabeth after losing their only daughter."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her brother. "Oh, you were not."

Greg smiled. "I wasn't, but I was getting very frantic."

"Where was she?" Kaitlyn asked. "I mean, obviously you found her," she added, motioning toward Catherine.

"I bet she went back to ask another question," Jacob said.

Catherine shook her head. "Nope."

"Then where was she?" Grace asked.

"Halfway to Virginia, that's where," Greg said. "I ran along the shore, trying to scan the beach and the water at the same time, and out of the corner of my eye I caught a flash of bright pink. It was her Minnie Mouse bathing suit, riding halfway up her–"

"You don't have to share every single detail," Catherine cut in to giggles and chuckles around the room.

He grinned, but relented. "She was still walking, right along the surf, head high, not a care in the world."

"Oh, now that's not true," Catherine said.

"Didn't you know you were lost, Aunt Catherine?" Jacob asked.

"I didn't think I was lost, exactly, but I had realized Uncle Greg wasn't next to me anymore."

"And you kept walking?" Gabby asked.

She shrugged. "I knew what our umbrella looked like, I was confident I could find it."

Danny laughed. "Of course you were."

"What's she leaving out is that we'd rented our umbrella on the beach along with hundreds of other people, and they were all exactly the same," Greg said.

Catherine grinned. "That detail escaped my four-year-old logic," she admitted.

"So I caught up with her and we walked back to find Jean and the boys, _holding hands this time_," he emphasized. "I was hoping I could keep the whole incident from Elizabeth and Joseph, but the boys barely let the door close on the rental before they were spilling the whole story."

Jean laughed. "Well, to them it was the most exciting thing to happen on vacation."

"Whew," Kaitlyn said. "I'm glad your uncle found you, Aunt Catherine."

Jacob beamed. "That's what I said!"

"I'm just trying to picture you in a bright pink Minnie Mouse bathing suit, Auntie Cath," Grace said, giggling next to her on the couch.

"I was four," Catherine said in her own defense. "It was the eighties. Minnie Mouse was very popular."

"She looked so darling in that suit," Elizabeth said wistfully. "Little ruffles on the straps."

Catherine eyes her mother knowingly. "You're gonna look for one for Angie, aren't you?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny …" Elizabeth said, winking at Steve, and they all laughed.

"But you know what I remember most about that whole incident?" Greg said. "Besides the bright pink Minnie Mouse bathing suit riding up little Catherine's–"

"Okay," Catherine cut him off again, fighting a grin.

"Even more than those few moments of absolute terror when I had no idea where my niece was," he said seriously, "and I will never forget that feeling … but I what I remember even more was that when I did find her again, _she_ wasn't terrified. She wasn't screaming or crying, when she would have had every right to be. She was calm and collected, and she told me as we walked back that if she couldn't find our umbrella she was going to ask a lifeguard for help."

"That's my girl," Ang said proudly.

Greg smiled at Catherine. "If I didn't know what an amazing niece I had before, I certainly did after that."

Grace hugged Catherine on the couch. "And because you found her, so do we."

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Note:** Shout out to jmlane for the other ideas of where a sleeping Angie might end up :-)

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